Olivier Giroud scored in France’s 3-1 World Cup last-16 win over Poland to become his country’s all-time leading goalscorer with 52 goals.
The AC Milan striker has now overtaken legendary forward Thierry Henry after he had equalled his record with two goals against Australia in France’s World Cup opener.
His first-half goal put France ahead in their first knockout test as Didier Deschamps’ side seek to defend their World Cup title after victory in Russia in 2018, a tournament Giroud failed to score in despite leading the line for France.
“He’s underrated, it’s true,” former France defender Laura Georges responded when asked if Giroud was appreciated in France. “But you really have to give him respect because after all the criticism with Karim Benzema coming back, he played the last World Cup and didn’t score any goals.
“But he’s been the player, who has been really strong and creating spaces for other forwards, and he’s been confident in himself as if to say ‘I’m not going to give up, I’m ready for this World Cup’.”
“Always I hate Giroud,” former Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino joked. “Because of Arsenal and Chelsea, he’s always a player you face and you know, his achievements are massive.
“He’s a player, we [he and fellow BBC pundit Rio Ferdinand] were centre-backs, that you hate because it’s [he’s] a killer, the ball comes inside the box and it’s difficult because he’s big, he’s clever and very good movement because he’s so smart.”
Ferdinand described Giroud as a “deadly” striker because of the way he can impact a game in the blink of an eye.
“Some players get frustrated when they don’t see the ball, he could go eight to nine minutes not seeing the ball and the one chance comes, he’s a killer, he’s deadly,” Ferdinand said. “So he’s not fazed, he doesn’t lose confidence by not touching the ball and that’s an art in itself.
“He knows what he’s good at, and he executes.”
Giroud scored his first goal for France more than ten years ago against Germany in a friendly in February 2012 and has since continued to climb the rankings, overtaking some of the greatest players in France’s history.
He has made 116 appearances for France and was part of the French side that won the World Cup in 2018, and finished runner-up at the European Championships in 2016.
The one and only hat-trick he has netted for Les Bleus came against Paraguay in a friendly in June 2017, and he’s scored an additional ten braces, including the one in Qatar against Australia.
